


Accidentally In Love

by LordOfVibes



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: AU, Accidentally In Love by Counting Crows, Bisexual Evan Hansen, Boys In Love, Childhood Friends, F/F, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Gay Jared Kleinman, Getting Together, Growing Up, Growing Up Together, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I bet Jared's OOC but idc, Idiots in Love, Kleinsen, Lesbian Alana Beck, Love Confessions, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Questioning Sexuality, Songfic, Time Skips, Trees, antisocial bois, kleinsen is my comfort ship, let evan and jared be in love you cowards, main kleinsen minor zolana, pansexual zoe murphy, so no angst for my precious bois, zolana
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:20:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27597422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordOfVibes/pseuds/LordOfVibes
Summary: Evan and Jared fall in love under a tree.
Relationships: Evan Hansen/Jared Kleinman, background Alana Beck/Zoe Murphy - Relationship
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27





	Accidentally In Love

9 year old Evan Hansen met Jared Kleinman one day during recess. 

He noticed a shadow sitting underneath the giant oak tree near the playground. Being the curious kid he was, he walked across the grass to see the shadow closer. 

The shadow turned out to not be a shadow at all, but another kid who was just about Evan’s age. He had a mop of light brown hair on his head and square glasses that framed his eyes. He was sitting underneath the tree, his nose buried in a comic that Evan didn’t recognize. 

The kid with the glasses immediately noticed Evan standing beside the tree. His eyes jolted up to meet Evan’s, startled. He sighed. “What do the teachers want me for?” the kid asked, worried. 

“No, the teachers don’t need you,” Evan shook his head. “I’m wondering why you aren’t out there playing with everyone else,” he motioned with his hand behind him at the other kids playing on the playset; talking, running, and laughing. 

The kid shrugged, the comic he was once reading laying on his lap. “Don’t really like playing with the others. Rather read,” he answered Evan’s question. 

Evan was about to just say ‘Oh. Okay’ and just leave this kid alone, but then he stopped. He was this kid. He never had anyone to play with. He never had anything to do. He’d just wander the playground, kicking at the mulch and letting his mind wander. Maybe he could give this kid some company. It’d be better than just moping around. “You mind if I sit with you?” 

The kid’s face scrunched up as he thought about it for a minute. He looked back at Evan and slowly nodded. “Yeah. You can sit here.” 

Evan smiled and sat down in the grass next to the kid. The kid turned his head to smile back, though his smile was more of a smirk. “I’m Jared by the way.” 

“Evan.” 

***

The next day at recess, Evan immediately walked to the oak tree. Jared was there, reading the same comic he was yesterday. His eyes rose from the comic in his lap and met Evan’s. “You’re here again,” Jared stated his observation. 

“Wanted to hang out with you again,” Evan said, and he was telling the truth. Jared was fun to talk to. He was a nerd, and antisocial like him, among a sea of social, loud kids. 

“You’d really wanna hang out with me? You have tons of games to play, I just sit here and read.” 

“I don’t really do anything at recess,” Evan admitted. “Just kinda walk around, bored. I liked talking to you,” he grinned, and he saw Jared quirk up into a smile. 

“Sure,” Jared tried to sound unaffected by Evan’s presence, but Evan could tell he liked him being there. Evan sat down where he sat the day before. 

Evan wished he knew back then how much this kid was gonna change his life. 

***

For some reason that Evan didn’t really know, he kept going back to that tree, back to Jared. Evan didn’t really have friends, so Jared was his only friend. He was the only person at the school who really cared about him. The two started hanging out places other than the tree. They ate lunch together and frequently went to each other’s houses. Jared showed Evan his video games and books, and Evan showed Jared his tree journal. But after all those years, their main place to hang out was the tree. They had both gotten attached, so many good memories came from that tree. 

One day when both were 12, Jared got an idea. “Wait!” he exclaimed, grabbing the sharpest stick he could find on the ground. He etched the words ‘Jared and Evan were here’ onto the bark. After he was done, Jared sat back and looked at his masterpiece, Evan looking along with him. “There. Now everyone who sits at this tree will know we were here,” he smiled contently at his artwork. 

“It’s perfect,” Evan agreed, also smiling. 

*** 

Of course, Evan still had a life outside of Jared and the tree. He even had a girlfriend, a girl named Zoe Murphy. Evan was 14 when he saw her for the first time, during one of her jazz band practices, and he knew he had fallen in love instantly. He talked to Jared about her for hours, but he wasn’t sure that Jared was actually listening. It looked like all of what Evan was saying just went into one ear and out the other. 

Jared, of course, knew that Evan was a cautious person. He’d never get the courage to talk to her, and if he did, he’d just fuck it up. So he gave Evan a pep talk to give him confidence. Told him how to talk, how to keep a conversation. Those things sound really dumb for someone to learn at age 14, but Evan really needed that. 

Surprisingly, Jared’s advice actually worked. Evan and Zoe actually started talking, and eventually dating (yes, his mom let Evan date at 14) . Evan was really, really in love. He knew he was only 14, but he truly loved her, and Zoe truly loved him. He was the happiest he had been ever since he was a little kid. 

When Evan and Zoe officially started their relationship, Evan immediately after told Jared to meet him by the tree. As soon as they both got there, Evan grinned from ear to ear. “I confessed to Zoe. She feels the same way We’re dating now.” 

“Holy crap!” Jared’s eyes widened. “Congrats, man! No need to thank me,” he crossed his arms and smirked smugly, which Evan rolled his eyes at. That was Jared, being that sarcastic asshole he was. But Evan knew Jared always meant well, no matter how hard he tried to mask it. Why else would he be friends with him still? “Have you guys kissed yet?”

“Not yet,” Evan shook his head, placing his hands on his hips. His heart swelled when he thought about what kissing Zoe might feel like. He had never kissed anyone before, but he bet it felt like heaven as everyone said it felt like. 

The two sat down, leaning against the tree bark. Jared was suspiciously silent, and he looked like he was thinking about something. “What?” Evan asked, Jared keeping his thoughtful expression. 

“Is it weird that I haven’t had any crushes on any girls yet?” Jared asked, looking down at his lap, embarrassed. 

Evan thought about that. He eventually replied, “No, I don’t think so. I mean, you’re only 14,” he was silent for a couple moments. “Maybe you like guys,” he suggested.

“Heh,” Jared still wasn’t looking back at Evan, though Evan could see Jared’s gaze down at his lap was deep in thought. “Maybe I do.”

***

“You know, I’m really glad you’re my friend.” 

Jared looked up from the blade of grass he was twiddling in his fingers. He looked surprised by what Evan had said, but Evan had truly meant it. Jared was Evan’s first true friend. He was what made him happy. He always felt better when Jared was around. Even though Jared was kinda mean at times, and acted like he didn’t care, Evan knew deep down in his soul that Jared did really care. He had a heart. 

After a moment of being flustered, Jared replied, “I don’t mind hanging out with you either. You’re a pretty cool dude.” 

“Jared, stop acting like you don’t care. We’ve been friends for seven years,” Evan suggested, laughing afterwards. Jared tried to act so tough and cool, but he really wasn’t. He was the boy who read comics underneath the shade of a tree instead of playing with the other kids at recess. He was Evan’s best friend. 

“Dude, I’m not friends with you. We just hang out everyday underneath this tree because I don’t wanna talk to anyone else and you just come here for some weird reason,” Jared said in a sarcastic tone. 

“Oh shut up man, I fucking hate you,” Evan lightly shoved Jared’s arm, and the two boys laughed, before leaning back against the tree again. Jared had gone back to silently messing with that blade of grass he had pulled from the ground. Evan sighed and looked out into the blue sky, gazing into the neverending sea of light blue, but then jolted up when he noticed that Jared was holding his hand. He looked down at their hands entwined together, his face flushing brightly. But for some reason that Evan didn’t fully understand, he didn’t pull away. He let Jared hold his hand, because he thought about how much it would hurt to let go. 

***

Evan eventually told Zoe about his crush on Jared. He didn’t know why or how he loved him, but he did, a lot. He loved Jared with all his heart, the way he used to love and crush over Zoe. They had been happily in a relationship for two years, but Evan had eventually fallen out of love with her and in love with Jared. It had been one year since Jared came out to him, and that was the thing that made him start to question his sexuality. He finally came to terms with his bisexuality and his crush on his best friend. 

What really shocked Evan was Zoe was going through a very similar problem herself. She had fallen head over heels for a girl she was friends with, Alana. She told him she was pansexual and had been crushing on her for a while now, but was scared about what Evan might think. The two laughed it off, breaking up but still remaining very close friends, even to this day. 

Zoe had confessed to Alana, and Alana felt the same way. The two started dating, and Evan couldn’t be happier for her. That really was the final push to get him to confess to Jared. He was so scared, he really didn’t wanna ruin his friendship. That friendship, meeting Jared, was the one thing that was keeping him from doing any harm to himself. He was literally living for Jared. 

But Evan eventually sucked his fear up, told himself ‘Fuck it,’ and asked Jared to meet him by the tree that day after school. Jared always showed up, so it wasn’t a surprise when Jared was standing there, arms crossed, leaning against the tree, clearly trying to look as cool as possible. “Hey Ev,” Jared waved. “Why’d you call me here? Did you just wanna chat about shit?” 

Evan rubbed the back of his neck with his arm. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something more serious,” he muttered. 

Jared looked alarmed and confused. “Okay…” he tried to make sense of the situation. “How about we sit?” he suggested, and Evan nodded, the two sitting down in the places where they always sat. Evan looked behind him at the tree bark. The etchings of ‘Jared and Evan were here’ were still there and pretty visible. Evan smiled as he recalled the memories of when they were young. They were just kids, two boys talking underneath a tree. 

“So um,” Evan started, nervous, “I have something to tell you, I’ve known for a while now, and I don’t know how you’ll react.” 

“Just fucking spit it, man,” Jared encouraged, his smile warm and charming. Evan gulped. He was about to do this. He was about to confess to his crush, his best friend of seven years, how he felt. He had already gotten himself into this, there was no going back. 

“I’minlovewithyou,” Evan suddenly blurted, and Jared’s eyes went wide, his face going pink. He was silent for a while, just taking this news in. 

Evan saw Jared start to smile. The smile grew wide, stretching from his cheeks. Evan had never seen him so happy. Suddenly, Jared laughed. It was a full, belting laugh; louder than Evan had heard him laugh before. “Ev!” he exclaimed. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me sooner? I was shitting my pants over here!” 

So Jared… felt the same way? Evan’s mind didn’t really wrap around the whole situation yet. “So, you feel the same way?” 

“God, yes! I’ve been in love with you for so long, but I was so scared to tell you, I was afraid I’d lose you,” Jared sighed, reaching his hands up to cup Evan’s face. Jared would never admit it, but Evan could see that there were tears welling up in his eyes. 

Evan couldn’t believe it. “Oh my god…” he said, looking back at Jared with love in his eyes. This was a dream. This was a fucking dream, wasn’t it? He pinched himself. Nope. Not a dream, if that old trick actually worked. “Can I kiss you?” 

“Yes,” Jared pleaded, his voice quiet. Evan leaned forward and pressed his lips against Jared’s, and the rest was history.

***

“Babe, where are you bringing me?” 

Evan was dragging Jared, leading him by his hand. Jared had his eyes covered with a bandana to make sure he wouldn’t peek, since Evan knew Jared well. Evan led Jared around the school to the playground, then away from the playground over to the tall, towering oak tree where they had met and spent so much time together. Where Evan had grown some balls and confessed his feelings. Where him and Jared officially got together. 

“Okay,” Evan sighed with contentment as he stood hand in hand with Jared in front of the tree. He had been setting this up for months now. This had to be perfect. “You can take it off now,” Evan ordered, and Jared did so, reaching back behind his head and untying the knot that the bandana was in. The bandana fell to the ground as Jared was shocked by the circle of candles and trail of roses that had been set up underneath the tree. It was sorta dark outside, so the candles shone brightly among the dark. 

“Babe…” Jared said, very impressed. “Why did you do all of this?” he motioned towards the scene of rose petals and candles. 

“What, can I not give my boyfriend a little extra treatment every now and then?” Evan asked, his smirk smug and flirtatious. He was feeling more confident than he usually did that day. Maybe it was because they had just graduated high school or Evan was about to propose. Maybe both. Yeah, both. 

“You never do this much work for me.” 

“I hate you,” Evan muttered under his breath. He was being very, very sarcastic. He didn’t hate Jared, he could never, even if he really tried. He only said that because Jared was a pain in the ass sometimes. Annoying? Definitely. Someone he could hate? Not in a million years. 

Jared, still very entranced by the beauty and romance of the situation, walked forward and knelt down in the pile of petals. He reached a finger out to trace the carvings that spelled out ‘Jared and Evan were here.’ “Holy fuck, it’s still here! Wow, after all these years…” 

“Jared Klienman,” said Evan, which made Jared turn his head around. As soon as he noticed Evan on one knee and holding out a box with a ring inside, the gem a bright emerald green, he fell back against the tree, doing no movement except breathing and blinking. “We met here nine years ago, and we got together here two years ago. You are the love of my life. So I was wondering if you maybe wanted to, I don’t know, maybe marry me-” 

“Yes,” Jared interrupted, intensely nodding. “Yeah, I’ll marry you.” 

“Good,” Evan exhaled, relieved. “I was getting worried you’d say no,” he said sarcastically. Jared reached over and pulled the ring out of the box, turning it over in his hand. 

“This is fucking beautiful, babe. Thank you, so much,” Jared said sincerely, which was a tone Evan didn’t hear in his voice often. 

Jared stood up in the pile of flowers. Evan walked over and kissed his fiancee passionately. After a minute, they broke the kiss and just looked into each other’s eyes in silence. Suddenly, Jared’s face lit up and he gasped. He let go of Evan’s arms and turned around, kneeling down and grabbing the sharpest stick he could find on the ground. He took the stick onto the tree and drew a heart. Inside the heart, he wrote the letters ‘E + J’ like something that lovesick kids did. And in all honesty, on the inside, they really were lovesick kids. 

Jared walked back to meet Evan, squeezing his arm endearingly and resting his head on Evan’s shoulder. The two just stood in silence, admiring the etchings on the tree, showing their growth from just friends to so, so much more. 

“It’s like something out of a friends to lovers fanfiction.” 

“Oh shut up,” Evan shoved Jared’s shoulder and dragged him out of the playground. For a moment, Evan saw young Jared instead of Jared. The boy who sat underneath the tree near the playground and would rather read comic books instead of play with the other kids. The boy who Evan saw and asked to sit with. The boy who he had fallen in love with on accident. Best accident ever.


End file.
